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McGillis Fareed (マクギリス・ファリド Makugirisu Farido?) is a character that appears in the Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS television series. A young officer from Earth who worked for Gjallarhorn[1], he later adopted the alias Montag (モンターグ Montāgu?) to achieve his goals of exposing the disorder within Gjallarhorn. About two years later, he had usurped Iznario Fareed's position as head of Fareed Family and became the leader of the Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet. He eventually acquired and piloted the ASW-G-01 Gundam Bael, the mobile suit of Gjallarhorn's founder Agnika Kaieru, to assert his legitimacy as leader of Gjallarhorn.

Personality & Character[]

McGillis Fareed is polite, courteous, and can be considered even charming, but he can be very serious about his work, which makes him seem cold-hearted to those who don't know him personally. He is analytical and thoughtful, and usually more reserved and serious than his friend Gaelio Bauduin, but he will have an occasional cheeky smile and does have a sense of humor. He has a habit of fiddling with his bangs when he thinks.

He also seems to care about people he knows. McGillis isn't the type of person to just accept things as they are and believe what everyone says; he is known to be very fastidious and will get down to the truth using what he's got. He has a habit of picking the strand of hair that hangs in front of his face and toying with it in his right hand when he is calculating or thinking critically. He also shows a soft spot for children such as Biscuit's sisters and his fiancee, Almiria.

He is among the few members of Gjallarhorn who is aware of the organization's deterioration due to ongoing corruption amongst its members. He wishes to reform the organization so as to get rid of the corruption. To do so, he begins to don a wig and a mask to hide his identity and seeks Tekkadan's help, supplying them with weaponry using his connection to the Montag Company.

However, underneath his professional demeanor is a man who is willing to do anything in order to attain absolute power. He had masked his true nature from many of his close friends and colleagues for many years without them ever knowing who he truly was as a person. McGillis' childhood has instilled in him that only the strong survives while the weak can only submit to the strong. Thus for most of his life, McGillis sought to attain the absolute pinnacle of power he could find; Gundam Bael, the most powerful symbol of Gjallarhorn and the soul of Agnika Kaieru, the founder of Gjallarhorn. Due to his power hungry nature, McGillis did not see any personal value in positive emotions such as love, trust, and friendships. He did, however, see those emotions as useful tools for him to use against his colleagues, manipulating them to help him further his own agenda. Despite this, he does feel some genuine remorse for his actions particularly betraying Gaelio. In a sense, he is the series' anti-villain, someone who has heroic goals, yet carries it out using non-heroic ways such as starting a coup d'état and planning the deaths of his friends.

Rustal comments that McGillis is hypocritical in his plan to reform the obsolete ways of Gjallarhorn, still having to rely on the organization's legend.

Skills & Abilities[]

McGillis is a very skilled mobile suit pilot and had no problem switching between different mobile suits. Although he is proficient in all forms of mobile suit combat, he seems to prefer close quarters combat, evident by his frequent use of swords as standard equipment in most of his mobile suits. Unlike most Gjallarhorn pilots, he was able to identify Tekkadan pilots as users of Alaya-Vijnana merely by watching their mobile suits' movement patterns. McGillis eventually had the Alaya-Vijnana surgery which grants him greater spatial awareness and information transfer rate, allowing him to pilot the Gundam Bael. Unlike other users of the system who have a spinal spike near the neck which uses a dome-shaped piece for connecting to the system's cable, McGillis has a hexagonal metal plate in the middle of his back instead. The Alaya-Vijnana system used by McGillis is a recreation of the original, complete version which had no age restriction.

McGillis is also a highly intelligent audit officer. He can piece together clues that perhaps no one else could, such as how he knew Kudelia Aina Bernstein was still on the Tekkadan ship Isaribi​​, based off of the fact that Todo Mirconen was kicked off the ship and sent to to their cruiser. ​According to Gaelio, McGillis is very fast and good at his job, and if his subordinates are made to work at his pace, "their bodies can't keep up". McGillis is an excellent senior officer according to Gaelio. McGillis has proven to be a very charismatic speaker and skilled manipulator, deceiving Gaelio into installing Ein with the Alaya-Vijnana System and authorizing Carta to pursue Tekkadan, exploiting her rigid honorable personality.

History[]

From a young age, McGillis had to kill and steal in order to get his next meal. While eating a bag of rotten apples, he was knocked unconscious by two men and sent to what was presumably a brothel catered towards older men. McGillis suffered physical and emotional abuse from many of the boys and implied sexual abuse from the clients. It is also at this time that he first met Iznario Fareed. McGillis realized early that displays of power and force was the only way to ensure his survival so he began to fight. At some point in time, Iznario Fareed adopted McGillis into the Fareed family. Despite being adopted, McGillis was neglected by Iznario (it was strongly implied that Iznario continued the sexual abuse against him even after he adopted him) which gave McGillis time to explore and discover how to better himself in order to reach his goals. After Izanario decided to make McGillis his heir, Izanario took McGillis to his main residence where he meets Gaelio and Carta for the first time.

One night, McGillis found a book on the life of Agnika Kaieru, the founder of Gjallarhorn. McGillis realized that Agnika Kaieru's life and legacy would give the absolute power that he craved so he began to work within Gjallarhorn to achieve that goal. By Post Disaster 323, McGillis is a very well known figure throughout Gjallarhorn and likely has a lot of influence within its ranks.

Post Disaster 323[]

McGillis, together with Gaelio Bauduin, were sent to Mars to inspect the Gjallarhorn's branch there. During the inspection, the duo noticed that a company sent out days ago did not return. Coral, the commanding officer of the Mars branch, came up with an excuse to throw them off and tried bribing them but McGillis would have none of it. McGillis and Gaelio then landed on Mars and arrived at a location where a battle was reported a few days ago. By piecing together what information he had, McGillis figured out that Coral had sent the missing company to capture Kudelia in order to get into the Regulatory Bureau's good grace and pass the inspection. Afterwards, they came across a cornfield, and nearly crashed into Cookie Griffon and Cracker Griffon. This created a ruckus, and prompted Mikazuki Augus to strangle Gaelio. McGillis subsequently apologized and gave the twins chocolates, which led to Mikazuki nicknaming him 'Chocolate Man'.

Later on, he dons a mask with a wig on it, becoming Montag and appearing in front of Kudelia Aina Bernstein and Fumitan Admoss to convince them to leave Dort 3, and informing them it was Nobliss Gordon who sent the weapons for the workers' coup d'état via Tekkadan. He also revealed that Fumitan is an agent of Nobliss.

McGillis later made contact with Tekkadan and the Turbines under his Montag alias and offered aid in bypassing the Gjallarhorn's Outer Earth Orbit Reglatory Joint Fleet barring their path to Earth. He subsequently crossed paths with Mikazuki, who recognized his voice and identified him as a Gjallarhorn officer to Orga Itsuka, Biscuit Griffon, and Eugene Sevenstark. McGillis assured them that he had nothing to gain trying to trick them and explained his goal of reforming Gjallarhorn. As such, helping Tekkadan is a means of ensuring his goal, but threatened to end their deal if they revealed his identity to anyone else.

As Tekkadan tried to enter Earth's atmosphere, McGillis sorties in his V08-1228 Grimgerde and helps Mikazuki and his ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos in defeating Carta Issue's Squadron that was guarding Earth's orbit. Later on, as McGillis Fareed, he manipulates Carta by giving her the information and whereabouts of Tekkadan, who was headed to Edmonton, escorting Togonosuke Makanai. The battle led to Carta's death. Eventually, he intervened in the battle between Mikazuki's Barbatos and Gaelio's ASW-G-66 Gundam Kimaris Trooper. McGillis reveals his plan to Gaelio, which prompted the latter to lash out after finding out that they were used. He then presumably killed Gaelio by stabbing the Kimaris' chest with the Grimgerde's sword.

As the Arbrau Incident ended with Makanai being re-elected as prime minister, the collusion between McGillis' father, Iznario, and Henri Fleurs was exposed, forcing his father to go into exile. As they parted ways, Iznario reminded McGillis that he saved him from despair and promised that only despair will await him. McGillis subsequently went to Almiria's side and comforted her as she grieved over her brother's apparent death.

With Iznario removed, McGillis took his place as the head of the Fareed Family and was later promoted to Brigadier General. However, despite his father's disgrace that exposed the corruption in Gjallarhorn, self-interest still festered within Gjallarhorn, notably Rustal Elion.

​Post Disaster 325[]

McGillis, under his Montag alias, hired Tekkadan to capture the leader of the Dawn Horizon Corps, Sandoval Reuters, and he send Isurugi Camice with one ship to assist them. After Tekkadan succeeded, McGillis traveled to Mars and covertly assisted Tekkadan as Orga and Mikazuki dealt with Terra Liberionis leader, Allium Gyojan. Allium was later executed by Mikazuki, and his supporters were arrested by Gjallarhorn. Later, the Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet led by McGillis was involved in the war between SAU and Arbrau, and he had to fight with the Tekkadan's Earth Branch, who at that time was being misled by Galan Mossa. During the battle, he was immobilized by Aston Altland, but was soon saved by Mikazuki and his Barbatos Lupus Rex who had came with other members from Mars to check on the Earth Branch. One month after the SAU-Arbrau war, McGillis (under the Montag alias) visited Orga at the Earth Branch and offered to let Tekkadan be the sovereign of Mars if they continue to support him and his reformation of Gjallarhorn succeeds. McGillis' offer was accepted by Orga.

He was later informed by Tekkadan about the unknown mobile weapon they had dug up on their martian half metal mine. McGillis then travelled to Mars and revealed that the large machine they found was actually a Calamity War era mobile armor named Hashmal. He went to the site along with several Tekkadan members, but they were soon interrupted by the appearance of Iok Kujan and his troops, which eventually led to the activation of the Hashmal. McGillis then retreats with the Tekkadan members. He later gave Isurugi the V08Re-0526 Helmwige Reincar, and get into his EB-06rs Graze Ritter Commander Type for battle against the Hashmal. On the way to the battlefield, he and Isurugi chanced upon the ASW-G-XX Gundam Vidar, but the Gundam soon left and the two continued on their way. He was later awed by the brute power the ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos Lupus displays while defeating Tekkadan.

McGillis eventually executed his coup of Gjallarhorn and took control of the organization's symbol, the ASW-G-01 Gundam Bael, in an attempt to become the leader of Gjallarhorn. During the event, the Gundam Vidar showed up again, and its pilot, Vidar, revealed himself to be Gaelio Bauduin. However, Vidar was chased away by Mikazuki and his Gundam.

The Gjallarhorn's Arianrhod fleet commander, Rustal Elion refused to recognised McGillis as Gjallarhorn's leader, and a space battle between the fleet and McGillis' forces broke out. During the battle, McGillis launched in the Gundam Bael to rally his troops and fought against Gaelio and his ASW-G-66 Gundam Kimaris Vidar. When it was clear that McGillis' troops were outmatched, Isurugi interfered in the duel between the McGillis and Gaelio, taking a fatal attack meant for McGillis. McGillis then took the chance to retreat with his troops to Mars, and he spent some time at Tekkadan's Mars HQ.

When Tekkadan's HQ was surrounded by the mobile suits from the Arianrhod fleet, McGillis launched in his Gundam Bael to serve as a distraction, allowing Orga, Ride and Chad to sneak past the enemy to Admoss Company to contact Togonosuke Makanai for help. McGillis then escapes and returns to his fleet, where he announced that he alone would carry out the remaining plan. Subsequently, McGillis single handedly engaged the Arianrhod fleet in space, and easily defeated numerous enemy units before dueling again with Gaelio. The two would battle until their mobile suits were unable to function and crashed onto the Arianrhod fleet's flagship. An injured McGIllis then got out and he proceeds to locate Rustal Elion in an attempt to kill him. He was soon intercepted and fatally shot by Gaelio, who had donned his "Vidar" mask again. The two shared their final moments of friendship together before McGillis died.[2]

Relationships[]

Gjallarhorn[]

  • Iznario Fareed - McGillis' adoptive father. McGillis has some issues in regards to his relationship with Iznario, as he says he doesn't want to see him so often and avoids going home. Nevertheless, McGillis respects Iznario as the head of the Fareed family. McGillis is aware of the agreement between Iznario and Henri Fleurs, and thwarts their plan for greater power in the Arbrau government by exposing the corruption within Gjallarhorn. While he respects his father, McGillis does not seem at all intimidated when Iznario threatened to throw him back into despair.
  • Gaelio Bauduin - McGillis works alongside Gaelio Bauduin, his inspector colleague and escort. McGillis is set to marry Gaelio's nine year old sister, Almiria, once she is old enough, making Gaelio his future brother-in-law. This arranged marriage between Almiria Bauduin and McGillis was organized by both McGillis' and Gaelio's parents. McGillis is very open, honest, and relaxed around Gaelio and seems to care very much for him. Gaelio in turn is also very open and helps McGillis in his investigations. McGillis and Gaelio have a very close friendship and work closely together, and McGillis even goes to Gaelio's house. McGillis constantly reminds Gaelio to not be so impulsive in trying to go after Kudelia Aina Bernstein and the Tekkadan crew in space. On Earth, during Tekkadan's battle outside Edmonton to send Kudelia and Makanai to the parliament, McGillis exposes his ties to Tekkadan in front of Gaelio and confirms himself to have orchestrated Carta's death, prompting the latter to attack him in blind rage before being killed. Although killing Gaelio was part of his plan to become the sole heir apparent of Bauduin family, he still regrets doing it as his friendship with Gaelio was rather genuine. In 325 P.D, Gaelio revealed himself to McGillis, alive and well. All traces of their previous friendship forgotten, McGillis sees Gaelio as an obstruction towards his plans to reform and lead Gjallarhorn and welcomes the chance to defeat Gaelio. This sentiment is mutual between the two with Gaelio proclaiming to the world that he will defeat McGillis.
  • Almiria Bauduin - McGillis' nine-year old fiancee. Part of an arranged marriage between the Fareed and Bauduin families. McGillis admires her cuteness as a little girl, but he doesn't seem to like the fact that he has to soon marry a nine-year old girl and he is probably doing it for family reasons. However, knowing he must marry her, he has a charming affection and perhaps a true love for Almiria, calling her "the finest among all ladies" and telling her to forget the fate they will face together as a couple. Despite McGillis' affection for her, he still sees her somewhat as a chess piece for his machinations because he will become the sole heir to the Bauduin family through her after killing Gaelio.
  • Ein Dalton - McGillis had a meeting with Ein on the Mars Branch HQ in space about the attack on the former company CGS back on Mars, now known as Tekkadan. Ein requested if he could join the pursuit force and McGillis let him join. He seems to take notice of Ein's great dedication and loyalty, although Ein is more on the less-talkative side. While respectful of Ein's loyalty, McGillis doesn't hesitate in using him as a pawn to show Gjallarhorn's corruption and convinces Gaelio to allow Ein to be modified with Alaya-Vijnana after being severely wounded in a battle against Tekkadan, even though Gjallarhorn doesn't stand for that at all. McGillis uses Ein's modification to show Gjallarhorn's hypocrisy towards Alaya-Vijnana, using it when they say they shouldn't, and the corruption within Gjallarhorn.
  • Carta Issue - A childhood friend and colleague. Her family is also one of the Seven Stars of Gjallarhorn and she was taken in by McGillis' father, Iznario Fareed, after her biological father fell ill. It seems that he doesn't know that Carta has a crush on him. McGillis 'looks up' to her and admires her personality, but orchestrates her death at the hands of Tekkadan just to further his agenda. McGillis had considered his friendship with Carta to be genuine like the one with Gaelio, but deemed that she needed to die for his plan to work.

Tekkadan[]

Upon realizing that Tekkadan can fit into his plan of exposing Gjallarhorn's inner corruption and disorder, and eventually the reformation of the organization, McGillis used his alias as Montag, the representative of Montag Company, to provide them with various kinds of support. However, his act of sending Carta to stop them from reaching Edmonton is somewhat dubious either as an act of betraying them or simply just to have Carta killed. In the second season, McGillis forms an alliance with Tekkadan wanting to continue gaining power to reform Gjallarhorn. McGillis has high expectations for Tekkadan, recognizing their combat record and potential as allies and promises Orga Itsuka that he will never abandon them.

  • Mikazuki Augus - McGillis first encountered Mikazuki at Mrs. Sakura's farm due to an incident involving Gaelio and Biscuit's twin sisters. He noticed Mikazuki had the Alaya-Vijnana system and that he moved quickly against Gaelio's punch, making McGillis suspicious that Mikazuki wasn't just any ordinary "farmer" as he pretended to be. After the misunderstanding was cleared up, McGillis gave the twins chocolate, and this lead to Mikazuki nicknaming him "Chocolate Man". McGillis then encounters Mikazuki again in space, in his Gundam Barbatos. McGillis considered Mikazuki an adequate pilot, as he escaped one of McGillis' attacks that could've caused great damage. He was rather excited to be fighting against a legendary Gundam frame and he realized how Mikazuki was able to use the Alaya-Vijnana system to his advantage in the Gundam. Later, when McGillis disguise himself as Montag, Mikazuki was the first to recognize him through his voice and in turn, McGillis removes his masks' eye shades and asks for the whereabouts of Biscuit's sisters. Two years later, when McGillis proposed an alliance with Tekkadan, Mikazuki seems wary of him; however Mikazuki willingly protects McGillis from Galan Mossa during the war between Abrau and SAU under Orga's command due to their alliance. McGillis thanks Mikazuki for saving him at the end and gives him a chocolate to show his gratitude. McGillis mentions that Mikazuki saving him in Barbatos Lupus was like watching a scene from the legend of Agnika Kaieru. After Mikazuki brutally defeated the Hashmal, McGillis' respect for Mikazuki grows. McGillis sees Mikazuki as a source of inspiration and credits Mikazuki for showing him that only true power will help fan the flame of revolution, leading the world to the ideal path.
  • Orga Itsuka - Whilst initially enemies, McGillis later forms an alliance with Tekkadan and promises that the organization would be sovereign of mars once he become Gjallarhorn's leader. Orga at first is a bit wary of the trust he can place in McGillis, but as events progress and the growing conflict with Rustal's forces, Orga begins placing more faith in him and vows that he will never betray McGillis. McGillis on the other hand whilst respecting Tekkadan's fighting spirit seems to look down upon them as a means to an end. During the battle against Hashmal, he claims he wants Tekkadan to be completely reliant on him rather than a symbiotic relationship. This is further shown by McGillis' willingness to let Tekkadan take casualties, this infuriates Orga and prompts him to assault McGillis for daring to undermine the lives of his family. The strain on their alliance borders on a breaking point with Orga dropping all pretense between the two, and claiming that after the battle with Rustal's fleet they would go their separate ways.

Quotes[]

"But it's hard to let go of a power once you obtain it. Humans are like that. Even if it is a power that could destroy themselves." --Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Episode 1 (S1)
"Machines with that name have appeared many times at historical turning points, and has been a great influence on the history of man." (referring to the Gundam Frames) --Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Episode 5 (S1)
"It might be the pilot, rather than the machine." --Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Episode 6 (S1)
"Friendship, love, trust...such soft-hearted emotions will unfortunately not reach me. As I have lived in anger. -Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, Episode 25 (S1)
"And in my entire life...you were my only friend. (Final words to Gaelio) - Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, Episode 25 (S1)
"I want to reform this corrupted Gjallarhorn. To do this, I need to be in a position with more power." (to Orga Itsuka) --Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Episode 4 (S2)

Gallery[]

Character Design[]

Anime[]

Gunpla[]

Notes & Trivia[]

  • Takahiro Sakurai previously voiced Sir Trillram in ALDNOAH.ZERO with Biscuit Griffon's voice actor, Natsuki Hanae.
  • In episode 15, McGillis dons a mask and a wig to obscure his appearance as he carries out his own plans; this is a homage to Char Aznable from the original Mobile Suit Gundam.
    • McGillis can be considered as an inversion of the "Char Clone" trope to the Gundam franchise; while most Char Clones dons aliases while affiliating with the enemy faction of their series, McGillis has already sided within the enemy faction in his true name and use his alias to support the protagonist.
    • Both McGillis and Char are friends with a purple haired man, Garma Zabi and Gaelio Bauduin respectively, who they eventually harmed as part of their hidden agenda, though they both regret it as their friendship was genuine. Also similar to Char Aznable, McGillis is very charismatic and a natural leader and will use people to his advantage.
    • McGillis also pilots a red mobile suit, the Grimgerde, like Char Aznable who also piloted a red mobile suit.
  • McGillis's use of two knight blades at once while piloting his Graze Ritter Commander Type (which typically uses only one) might possibly be due to his idolization of Agnika Kaieru, whose fighting style in the Gundam Bael revolved around dual-wielding swords.
  • Takahiro Sakurai voiced Suzaku Kururugi from Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion which is another Sunrise show. As a reference to the series, McGillis dons a Montag persona similar to Suzaku sporting Zero due to the fact that they have masks that represents them as a Char Clone. McGillis has some similarities to Suzaku as both are willing to betray their friends to gain power to change their nation. Both have an ally who would later turn into an enemy Shin Hyuga Shaing/Gaelio Baudauin (Vidar) who shares the same Seiyuu.
  • McGillis's English voice actor Steve Cannon, previously voiced Seabook Arno, Shiro Amada, and Banagher Links, the protagonists of Mobile Suit Gundam F91, Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, and Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, respectively, making him the only voice actor to play both a protagonist and a Char clone.
  • To obtain the "Unmasked" variant of the Montag AI Pilot in Gundam Breaker Mobile, players must build it from event blueprints during a limited time when it is available as a build project. This is resource-intensive process, as each part requires a combination of twelve total Material which can only be obtained by rolling the current gacha capsules on specific weeks to get the number of necessary material for the part. it would take at least twelve rolls over four weeks to craft the AI.

References[]

Tekkadan Administration Orga Itsuka · Biscuit Griffon · Eugene Sevenstark · Merribit Stapleton · Dexter Culastor · Atra Mixta
Commando Unit Mikazuki Augus
1st Working Unit Norba Shino · Dante Mogro · Derma Altland
2nd Working Unit Akihiro Altland · Ride Mass
Earth Branch Chad Chadan · Takaki Uno · Aston Altland · Radice Riloto
Maintenance Team Yamagi Gilmerton · Nadi Yukinojo Kassapa · Dane Uhai
Others Hush Middy · Zack Lowe · Elgar · Embi · Hirume · Trow
Gjallarhorn
Inspectors McGillis Fareed · Gaelio Bauduin
Mars Branch Coral Conrad · Ein Dalton · Crank Zent
Outer Earth Joint Regulatory Fleet Carta Issue · Isurugi Camice · Liza Enza · Corlis Stenja
Arianrhod Fleet Rustal Elion · Iok Kujan · Julieta Juris · Gaelio Bauduin · Yamazin Toka
Others Agnika Kaieru · Iznario Fareed
Teiwaz Administration McMurdo Barriston · Jasley Donomikols
Turbines Naze Turbine · Amida Arca · Lafter Frankland · Azee Gurumin · Eco Turbine · Chloe Turbine · Bilt Turbine · Eva Turbine
Other Factions Chryse Guard Security Maruba Arkay · Haeda Gunnel
Brewers Brooke Kabayan · Kudal Cadel · Masahiro Altland
Dawn Horizon Corps Sandoval Reuters
Arbrau Henri Fleurs · Togonosuke Makanai · Galan Mossa
Civilians Kudelia Aina Bernstein · Todo Mirconen · Cookie Griffon · Cracker Griffon · Sakura Pretzel · Savarin Canele · Fumitan Admoss · Almiria Bauduin · Nobliss Gordon · Cucubita Hughes · Allium Gyojan · Akatsuki
Urdr-Hunt Wistario Afam · Demner Kitaco Jr. · Korunaru Kousa · Range Dubrisko · Cyclase Mayer
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